What Massage Really Does to Your Muscles

By Katherine Hobson

Why get a massage? Well, because it feels good, for one thing. But many people also hop on the table with the hope that massage therapy can help promote muscle recovery after a tough workout or provide other benefits.

The researchers exercised 11 young men to exhaustion over about 70 minutes, then massaged a single leg (determined randomly for each man) for ten minutes. The subjects received a muscle biopsy in both quad muscles to gather samples for massaged and non-massaged legs. The biopsy was repeated after a 2.5-hour rest period.

Researchers analyzed the samples from the different legs to see what was going on after the massage. They found two major changes: reduced signs of inflammation, and an increase in production of mitochondria, the cell’s energy factories.

Curbed production of inflammatory molecules “may reduce pain by the same mechanism as conventional anti-inflammatory drugs” like aspirin and ibuprofen, the authors write.

The authors say that an increase in the number of mitochondria can promote better recovery after a tough exercise session. That finding also means that massage after exercise could help enhance endurance, says Mark Tarnopolsky, an author of the study and a professor of pediatrics and medicine at McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ont. Nailing down that link would require further research, says Tarnopolsky.

The study didn’t turn up any signs that massage flushes out lactic acid from the muscle, he says.

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5:10 pm September 5, 2013

Parkau wrote :

Most of the evidence on massage therapy in terms of clinical benefits are difficult to ascertain. It's possible the placebo effect can be at play, especially due to the intimate nature of the massage therapy and it's very difficult to create a blinded, placebo trial to actually test this. That being said, just because there is a placebo effect at play does not mean there is no benefit.